Today we will examine how to know the condition of our
hearts and how God trains our heart or rather how we can write things in our
heart so that we follow after God.
Matthew 12:35: a good man brings
out good out of the good things stored up in him and an evil man, evil stored
up in him.
We established that the heart is the center and the engine
of our lives . we cannot experience life outside of our hearts . So how do we
really know what is in us ?
·
What do you value the most? What’s in your heart
will be communicated by the things you value in your subconscious and in your conscious.
What is it that you can spend your money, time and other resources on? If you
have found it then that is what you value the most in your life.
If
you purport to be a Christian and a lover of God, just examine how you treat
people . If you love God, it’s known by how you value people.
The bottom line is that what you value the
most is probably your treasure and your treasure is probably that which is
lurked in our heart.
·
What will you sacrifice to obtain/acquire what
you value
There was a Drama in David the kings palace
and it was about an incestuous crush that ended up with fatal consequences .
Amnon had a crush on Tamar , her half-sister. Its said that he was so in love
with his sister that he fell sick (2 Samuel 13:2) he was willing to sacrifice
and play sick all the way in order to get to her. It was a wicked thing but
goes to show us when something is in your heart so much that it makes you sick, you will be willing to do anything
to acquire it.
The commitment of the early church towards
one another led them to sell their
property and shared money with one another. It’s said that they were devoted to
one another and to fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer and the apostles teachings.
You are probably going to sacrifice to get what you value the most
·
Self-talk: what do you find talking effortlessly
to yourself about when no one listening? Have you ever been startled by silent
conversation/s of your friend or and individual that influenced you to change
the previous judgment you had of him or her? Have you ever been surprised by
the subtle conversation you have with
yourself at times? If you pay closer attention to these silent mimes , they
most probably tell a lot about what is In the heart .(proverbs 23:7)
·
What emotions dominate your life?
Just as the heart is the door to your life.
Your prevailing emotions open the door to your heart. Its fair to say that if
emotions of anger dominate your day and are the dominant patterns of your days
, then your heart is anger and you are a person bound by anger. Whatever
emotions that form prevailing patterns in your life reveal what is in your
heart.
How do we write things in our hearts / How God trains
our hearts to store things deep within.
·
By meditation and Repetition : meditation
is a key Christian which eventually
moves the word of God from our lips and our minds ans stores them in our heart.
The word meditation in Hebrew Higgayon has a connotation of murmuring and
mattering words as a musical notation. When the transforming word of God is in
your heart, it will bring about the desired change.
Psalm 19:14, psalm 104:34.
Meditation helps us to hide the word of God
in our hearts
·
Allow positive words to write emotions in our
heart. I believe the word of God is not motionless and definitely not
emotionless. Generally words produce emotions with the intended results as
received by the recipient.
The word of God is living and active. Learn
to store positive words inside your
heart . when we meditate and think about the words we are internalizing ,
emotions will be formed along with them.(Your heart will be shaped by the words
that you allow to take root in you)
·
Putting what you have learnt into action. James
reminds us to be doers of the word. James 1:22-23
James tells us that those who are hearers
only is like a man who looks intently at his natural face and goes out and
forgets how he looks like. Just to have words in you that you don’t put into
action will soon fade away into a sea of forgetfulness.
The most important thing on life is to live
from the resources of the wealth that you have within you. In Christ God has
given you a new heart , he has removed the old heart of stone and has given you
a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:19). Remember that you cannot become any better than who you
really are on the inside.
